Maianh was kind enough to share some reflections on what the CrossFit Open means to her and how it has positively challenged her over the years.

What does the CrossFit Open mean to me?

It allows me to be the best me I can be in a measurable way. Since my first open in 2014 I have seen my progress through my results.

What do you think the Open means to the CrossFit community?

For 5 weeks the whole CrossFit community comes together to perform the same workouts with the same goal: to bring all their training together and perform to the best of their ability. Each person works just as hard, pushes through and at the end still has the energy to cheer on their remaining compadres.

How has the Open challenged you in a positive way over the years?

1. In 2017 I challenged myself to be “one and done” and I was successful. A more challenging goal than it sounds. I strive for perfection and the open brings out the best in you and it allows you to quickly assess how you did and as long as you can do it within the timeframe, you can repeat and hopefully improve your score. My challenge was to try and do my best I could the first time and be happy with what I achieved.

2. My coach challenges me. He often sets and sees goals that I don’t think I’m capable of. A wise coach in 2017 gave me a goal, to aim for the top 200 in my age group in the SW region. Yes, that’s right, I am a 35-39 masters athlete. Now he recalls saying top 250 but I’m proud to say, I brought it and placed 188th in the SW and 49th in Arizona.

Should you officially register in the Open?

Wondering whether to sign up or just do the WODs? Either is great, but signing up gives you historical data to monitor and measure your progress over the years and you get cool stats on an app and dashboards that include a Free Range Leaderboard!!

Thanks for taking the time and for all the kind words Maianh! Here's to another strong year!!

Having a realistic, quantifiable target and time to complete by is useful in many instances.

These can be especially useful in fitness related endeavors at the gym...

Increase your power clean by 5% by March 31st

Complete your first pull up by April 15th.

Finish the Blue band standards by December 31st.

Other times, developing a habit that points you in a certain trajectory and settling in for an extended period of time yields great outcomes.

"We Make Our Habits. Then Our Habits Make Us."

With this strategy, after a set amount of time you can reflect back on the habit to analyze how much (if any) benefit it is adding to your day and adjust accordingly.

For me, the habit approach can keep me flexible and objective in assessing whether things are working for me. I’m held accountable to either adopt the habit for the long-term if it is improving my life or drop it immediately if not.

It’s all about the journey, right?

Moral of the story...

Understand what you are trying to accomplish and develop your approach accordingly.

Hiking Hidden Valley trail at South MountainMemorial Day Murph!Haley, Ben and Sonia volunteered at the Crossfit games regionalsSoaking up some raysFree Range Summer Slam In House CompetitionCheck out the rest of Matthew Wegner's album

Free Range hike to the Wave CaveAntonio hiking at 17,770 ft. in Nepal!Nate & Brianna tied the knot!Free Range Halloween WODJason & Kelly repping Free Range in OaklandTony knocking out one leg of a Spartan Race trifecta!Sonia & Zach are next to the altar! FR Thanksgiving CelebrationAntonio shoutout from the White House
Crossfit Flagstaff's AC^2Check out the rest of Matthew Wegner's album

Seeing as the average American lifespan is 78.74 years and considering most folks don’t start drinking coffee until they are into their 20s (or later), that only leaves us with ~21,000 mornings to make coffee. With so few days to enjoy the Nectar of the Gods, we must take every opportunity to ensure quality! 😉
Breakfast egg loaf

I usually use this recipe as a cleanup to left-overs we cooked earlier in the week. Some vegetable combos I have used: onions & red bell peppers, butternut squats & spinach, green bell peppers & red onions with black olives…

On a recent trip to visit my sister out in San Francisco I was flipping through some of her cookbooks and found an interesting book by an author with an equally interesting name: J. Kenji López-Alt. The chapter mentioned something about mastering the art of the fried egg and I was hooked.

I love fried eggs, and I feel like sometimes the fate of the entire day rests on the quality of that fry! 😃 This method is LEGIT and will add some goodness to your weekend breakfast routine!
Banana pancakes

Ah, the beloved banana pancake.

Originally inspired by Matthew Wegner, this has become a go-to recipe for breakfasts, snacks, and post-WOD refueling.

Method:
* Combine banana, eggs, cinnamon and sea salt in a blender.
* Heat coconut oil over medium heat.
* Pour “batter” on to the hot frying pan.
* Flip when the eggs have set and the pancake is golden on the bottom.
* Enjoy!

There you have it!

As stated above, there is no single “recipe” for success with your morning food choices. The most important thing you can do is develop a habit that works with YOUR lifestyle.

Consider giving each of these a shot for a week or two and see how you feel.

Huge shout out to the five first-time competitors - you guys rocked it and we hope you learned a lot and had some fun along the way!

It was impressive to witness all the repeat competitors set specific goals for the competition based on last year and rise to the challenge. There were lots of weightlifting PRs (many for multiple reps), and tons of improvement on bodyweight movements.

Congratulations to Chuck G. who not only made it to the finals for the top 6 scaled men, but absolutely dominated the final WOD taking a 1st place event finish.

This Thanksgiving, I essentially made the equivalent of a pumpkin pie, with this tastier, slightly sweeter delicata squash. SO GOOD! Plus, the recipe is pretty darn paleo without loads of sugar that usually go along with pie.

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